Defense shines in LSU's first scrimmage

Saturday

BATON ROUGE – The defense held the upper-hand in LSU’s first preseason game of training camp on

Saturday as coach Ed Orgeron put the Tigers through approximately 100 snaps in a workout that started in Tiger Stadium but was forced indoors due to rain and lightning.

The Tigers got about 30 minutes into the workout when rain and lightning forced the team to the indoor facility where the majority of the scrimmage took place.

Saturday’s scrimmage had the Tigers focusing on third-down situations while also working on several areas of special teams, including field goals and kickoff returns and coverage.

"I was very pleased with the energy and the effort of our football team and the preparation of our coaching staff," Orgeron said. "We treated it just like it was a game. Our guys were excited about being in Tiger Stadium, but it started raining and it got a little sloppy (due to the rain) so we moved inside and continued to scrimmage."

Orgeron complimented the play of the defense, which was led by All-America linebacker Devin White, who had six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a pair of quarterback hurries. Other defensive standouts ncluded outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson (seven tackles, two sacks, one tackle for loss), linebacker Damone Clark (five tackles), linebacker Michael Divinity (two sacks).

"I thought the front seven was dominane, like I expected them to be," Orgeron said.

Orgeron also praised the play of LSU’s secondary, including cornerbacks Terrence Alexander and Kelvin Joseph along with Kary Vincent, Jontre Kirklin, Grant Delpit and Todd Harris. Orgeron said returning All-American Greedy Williams sat out the scrimmage.

Offensively, all four quarterbacks took reps with the first and second strings.

"They rotated a bunch today and we had a lot of different scenarios," Orgeron said of the quarterbacks. "I think each quarterback started each different period. They all played with the ones and they all played with the twos. It was a rotation. It wasn’t like you could say one guy went with the ones more than another. I think Steve (Ensminger) did a great job of rotating them all the way through."

Former St. James quarterback Lowell Narcisse connected on 6-of-14 passes for 122 yards. He was followed by Joe Burrow (7-of-13 118 yards), Myles Brennan (5-of-10 94 yards) and Justin McMillan (8-of-13 83 yards).

Running backs Nick Brossette, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Chris Curry got most of the carries out of the backfield. Curry led all rushers with 43 yards on 16 carries, while Brossette had 36 yards on 10 carries and Edwards-Helaire 17 yards on nine attempts.

"Nick ran the ball hard," Orgeron said. "Nick lowered his pads and ran the ball hard. He ran with the most authority. Clyde did some good things and we gave Chris Curry some reps."

Freshman Ja’Marr Chase led all receivers with three receptions for 52 yards, followed by Derrick Dillon (3-41), Justin Jefferson (3-42) and Jonathan Giles (2-48).

"On offense, we had way too many mistakes," Orgeron said. "Way too many penalties, way too many false starts. Sometimes when we were executing we made some good plays, but we shot ourselves in the foot with too many penalties.

"It was the first preseason game and the guys are fired up and trying to do too much. We’ve got to settle down and stay focused."

On special teams, graduate transfer Cole Tracy was perfect on his three attempts.

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